The guilty plea was entered before Judge L. Scott Coogler.,Steele was adjudged guilty, but no sentencing date was set.
Steele in making his appearance by way of a criminal information instead of a grand jury indictment testified that the information presented was correct.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Patrick Meadows in a summary of the facts said that when the FBI questioned Steele on Jan. 27 he denied any knowledge of guns being removed from the evidence room, except for two handguns that he had checked out for his personal use although he was not a law officer.
Steele when questioned again on March 11 denied that he knew of any guns being removed or sold. He said he had never seen the guns in Mayor Bob Davis' office.
On April 15, Steele was questioned a third time and told the FBI he lied to investigators and that he did help bring the guns from the mayor's office and load them into the van of County Commissioner Harold Woodall.
According to Meadows, some of the guns were subsequently sold and made their way out of state.
Earlier this year, Woodall resigned from the commission and pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in a county insurance fraud and to lying to the FBI. Woodall is serving a sentence of three years and five months in a federal prison in Montgomery.
Davis, who died in June after resigning as mayor in May, also was being investigated for the illegal disposition of the confiscated guns.
Davis first told Steele that he planned to plead guilty, butlater changed his mind, saying, "All we have to do is create a reasonable doubt," according to the summary Meadows presented to the court.
A presentencing report will be ordered by Coogler before a sentencing date is set for Steele. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and as much as a $250,000 fine. Steele is free on bond.
Steele as part of his plea agreement resigned as town manager on Sept. 15. He applied for a manager's job with the town's utility board, but the board last week by a unanimous vote refused to hire him
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